A number of MLB clubs have experienced lackluster seasons after a lot of positive hype in the offseason. The main culprit of that hoopla is the Boston Red Sox, who signed a number of high-profile free agents but have failed to produce on the field.
Boston has already hired Dave Dombrowski as their president of baseball operations and now the latest rumors suggest the team is likely to make a lot of changes once the offseason hits. General manager Ben Cherington is gone, so Dombrowski has no ties to anyone in the organization and he has final say over all baseball decisions.
Other teams are also set to re-think their strategy in a drastic way.
"The Nationals, Padres, Red Sox, Mariners, Reds, Orioles, Indians, and Tigers are expected to be quite active in the trade and free agent markets this winter," Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes.
Let's go through each of these teams, all of whom are bound to be watching the postseason from their couch. Today we'll take a look at the Red Sox and Tigers. Check back tomorrow when we analyze the Mariners, Orioles and Indians.
Boston Red Sox
As mentioned above, Dombrowski is now in charge. Cafardo says there could be a lot of re-tooling in the team's future.
"Dombrowski seems impressed with the Red Sox' farm system and international operation. Everything else might be up for review and change."
What's everything else? Well, for starters, Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez and the entire starting rotation. Cherington spent nearly $340 million on Sandoval, Ramirez, Rick Porcello and Rusney Castillo. It wouldn't be surprising if Dombrowski found a way to get rid of Sandoval and/or Ramirez after their nightmarish debut seasons with Boston.
Ramirez is most likely to go because he's now been displaced in the outfield and the chances of him being a competent first baseman are pretty unrealistic. On the other hand, Castillo has picked up his play as of late and Porcello was drafted by Dombrowski in Detroit, so there's a chance the right-hander's awful 5.21 ERA can be mended.
The Red Sox need a top-of-the-line ace to complement a cast of young arms (Porcello, Wade Miley, Joe Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens). Can Dombrowski coax David Price to come to Boston? It could take a lot of work since the team already has $104 million committed to 2016, which doesn't include David Ortiz's $10 million team option as well as other players set to hit arbitration.
If Dombrowski can't move Ramirez to free up some cash, will he increase efforts to trade Sandoval?
"When the Red Sox acquired him it was thought he would be a doubles machine, tattooing the left field wall lefthanded. But while he has 24 doubles entering Monday night's game against the Yankees, and likely will surpass the totals of his last five seasons, his other numbers have declined," Cafardo added in a separate piece. "His .684 OPS is the lowest of his career and his OPS has declined each of the last four seasons. The .289 career hitter is hitting .251, which would be the lowest of his career."
The new management may not be patient enough to wait for Sandoval to get back on track, and he at least has some value around the MLB whereas the other underperforming Red Sox do not.
Also, manager John Farrell could be gone depending on how Dombrowski is looking to revamp the Sox. Farrell was another choice of Cherington and the two worked closely together, but a new GM may want to hand pick a manager.
Detroit Tigers
What in the world happened to Dombrowski's former club? The Tigers have been the cream of the crop in the MLB over the previous four seasons, but they've dealt with various issues this year and are 61-70. Al Avila will take over as the team's general manager, and luckily for him, Dombrowski netted the Tigers a number of talented prospects (Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd, Jairo Labourt, Matt Fulmer and Luis Cessa) as a parting gift when he traded David Price and Yoenis Cespedes before the deadline.
Those arms will more than likely improve the future of the starting rotation, which has plagued the club (4.60 starters' ERA ranks 26th in MLB) in 2015.
But who on this team has trade value (that they can afford to move) and how much cushion does Avila have with the payroll? Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Ian Kinsler, Anibal Sanchez and Victor Martinez constitute an overwhelming majority of the payroll through 2017 and there's already $112 million committed to 2016 (not counting the arbitration raises due for J.D. Martinez and Jose Iglesias).
There will be a ton of pitchers available once free agency hits, and there's no doubt that's the No. 1 market Avila will be exploring.
"Since they sold at the trade deadline, their starting rotation will look something like Verlander, Sanchez, Norris, and a combination of free agents, Boyd, Fulmer, Shane Greene, Kyle Lobstein, Kyle Ryan and Buck Farmer instead of Verlander, Sanchez, Greene, Lobstein, Ryan, Farmer or a free agent," writes Tom Zahari of the Detroit Free Press.
"They also can use some of their extra resources to try to build a bullpen around Bruce Rondon, Alex Wilson, Blaine Hardy and Al Alburquerque. They can try to use Lobstein or Ryan like they used Drew Smyly in the bullpen. The Tigers have already converted Drew VerHagen to the bullpen and he seems like he will evolve over time. They can try the same with Farmer, Greene, and other starters in their minor league system."
But most importantly, what will happen to Brad Ausmus? Dombrowski hired him to take over for Jim Leyland, but in Avila's introductory press conference, the new GM didn't sound awfully committed to the second-year manager.
"Brad Ausmus is our manager for the rest of the season for sure," he said. "I have all the confidence in him. I think he's done a good job."
However ...
"Just like everything else from here on out, everything will be evaluated. Our staff will be evaluated, our major league club will be evaluated, and we'll make decisions moving forward after that."
While it's merely speculation at this point, there's definitely a chance Ausmus is gone after 2015 depending on the philosophy Avila prefers to instill.
Otherwise, look for the Tigers to be active in free agency for pitchers because their entire major-league staff needs an overhaul.
